A little less Naive
by Skylie XD
Summary: a clever woman who escaped the asylum and got her freedom back, but is Anabelle French really amnesic or is she pretending, for fear being returned to the white prison, when one is smart and brave as Annie some secrets could lurk under any slip of tongue


**Ths is my first fanfiction here =) at least of OUAT, I love to read them but I never really got the guts to write one of them since my grammar sucks...so if you can read tiny bits of bad grammar and not be angry keep reading hehehe... it's been a while since I write here so I get exited...i hope you guys like my fanficition...**

**Part I: the girl who was not crazy**

Annie liked to repeat those words in her head, "you are not crazy", she knew she wasn't, but that didn't stop everybody else from believing the opposite, well not everybody, the other prisoners there didn't believe it, they told her often, the man at her right, and the woman at her left, how she was the most sane person they knew, that she should not let the people dressed in white convince her otherwise, she should hold on, because she was clever, to mr right and mrs left, she was their only hope at getting out.

"you are the only sane person here Belle, if you get out, you can convince the outside world you are normal" Mr right liked to say "then you can come back for me, you would do that wont you?"

"if I ever where to get out, I would convince them I was sane, an then return for you" Annabelle liked to repeat like a mocking bird, but she knew she wasn't getting out of there anytime soon, yet if this was the hope Mr right had, who was she to take away that hope?.

Mrs left was less hopeful, but she had come from the outside world recently, and she liked to tell Anne of how it was, with colors and machines.

Everyone in the white prison screamed a lot, Annie screamed too, when she was given a green medicine that gave her nightmares, Mrs Left said that they put something there to make her hallucinate, that the people there didn't really want to let her go, so they faked her illness, but not to worry, she wasn't really mad, Mrs left told her she'd known plenty of mad people, and Annabelle didn't fit the bill.

Mr right liked to talk about faraway places, places that featured in Annie's dreams, but she never told him that, he liked to talk about possibilities, and liked to entertain Annie a lot, although he never called her Anne, in fact neither did mrs left, to them she was always "belle", whenever she asked them why, Mr right said her name had always been Belle, and mrs left always avoided the question, it was somewhat true, Annabelle had been called that once upon a time, in her dreams, in the memories of fairytales and castles that danced around her head when she was too tired to scream and too hopeless to believe.. but the name always made her so sad, someone, long ago, had used her name as an endearment, sweetly, and it always hurt, like a invisible jab at her heart and head, she disliked being called Belle because it made her sad, it made her want to cry, because once upon a time she had been Belle and for some reason she could never remember, she wasn't that anymore, now she was just plain old Annie.

Mr right played with her trough the wall when the wardens where too far to notice every evening, he always made the silliest questions, and Annie had to answer with the first thing that came to her mind.

So that was how it went, Mr right's voice would drift from the wall and ask "if you where a cat, what would you do Belle?"

"i would climb up the highest three and make fun of all the firemen trying to get me to come down"

"what type of cat would you be?"

"a homeless one, probably"

"what color"

"definately not white," Annie would laugh "but I think i'd like to be yellow, yellow of course, everybody loves a yellow cat"

"but not if you are a homeless cat"

"then I would find a homeless man who would love a homeless yellow cat" then she would hear mr right's voice drift into a fit of coughs, that's when she knew he was laughing

"keep that wit in you Belle, keep it very hidden, bu keep it tight, promise that to a old man" and that Annie did promise

Mrs left was another matter altogether, she didn't play with Annie, instead, Annie got to ask questions, and Mrs left answered them when she wanted.

"why do you think the dark woman keeps me here?"

"why does she keep all sane people here?, you either know too much, like me, or are a tool she wants to use later in her game" the voice sounded roughly her own age but Annabelle just kept calling her Mrs in her head, she was sure the woman was married.

"what do you know that she needed to send you here?"

"enough for her to think i'm some sort of threat to her plans" was the cryptic answer.

"what do you think I know?"

"you don't know anything Belle sweetie, that's the beauty of you, that's why you're still sane"

Annie didn't like not knowing things, she didn't like her white prison where the only thing that marked the passing of the days where the lights in her cell, when they switched on and off, so she began bargaining with mr left and Mrs right for tales, any story they could tell her would do, about the fairytale world they both thought they belonged to, and about the real world, the one that was out there, and then in exchange she told them of the few memories she had, of a father she didn't remember loving and a mother she never remembered hugging, of the dreams she had in her head, where the land stretched beneath her feet and the sky was blue, not white, she told stories of the books she'd read in real life, because of that she did remember, books she'd loved in the time of people she forgot, Austen and Bronte, Shakespeare and Wilde.

Eventually Annabelle started to make a mental list of things she knew, things Mr right and Mrs left wanted her to remember.

-Mr Right called himself happy, he told her he'd been one of the dwarfs in the tale of snow white, so she called him Mr Happy. Even if she didn't believe him.

Mrs Left knew a lot of crazy people where she came from, but would never tell Annie her name.

The woman in black was named Regina Mills, Mrs left told her she was the mayor and a very devious person, if Annie ever got out, she was to pretend they'd never met, and avoid her notice, or something bad might happen to her.

The White prison where they where kept was called a asylum, Mr Happy told her that this was where mentally ill people where thrown into, like a tower.

Apparently the town where they lived was Called Storybroke, and according to Mrs Left everyone in the outside world, thought Annie was dead.

She had a father named Maurice

her favorite color was blue

she hated being called Belle

she was very afraid of the dark lady called Regina

she liked to read until there was nothing else that mattered

she liked music, liked music very much.

Her full name was Annabelle Elise French, and she was decidedly, NOT crazy.

These where the things Annie recited in her head before she took her dreadful medicine everyday, these where the things she recited each morning like a silent prayer, and with that in her head she cowered to the wall and pretended to be scared when the people in white clothing came to check on her.

**Part II: the little knight in shining bicycle**

"Belle?, Belle? Wake up, are you up yet?" came the voice from Mrs left she was exited, Mrs left was rarely exited, so Annie woke up groggily and noticed that her cell lights where still out, it must have been too late in the night , or too early in the morning.

"what happened Mrs left? Is something wrong?"

"nope, nothing's wrong, actually something is very right, the cell next to me, it's got a new person Belle, and he told me something very useful" the exited voice hardly sounded like mrs left but Annie kept listening "there's someone new in Storybrooke sweetie, several people actually, do you know what that means?"

"no, please tell me" Came Annie's voice from across the wall

"it means we are no longer stuck in the time loop, that the person supposed to break the curse finally arrived"

"and why did you need to wake me up?"

"because it's time, we are going to break you out, you just have to listen to me okay, and if you do everything I say, you'll be able to get out of this place" she paused like if she where thinking something "and of course stay that way" "would you like that Belle?"

"with all my heart" was the earnest reply

"very well, now listen carefully, we all need you to be brave okay, because for the life of me, you are the only one in this darn place who can get out"

"why"

"because you really don't know anything, about the curse, you remember something, but if you want to stay safe out there, pretend you don't, better yet, try to forget it, you say it pains right? Well don't remember, please"

"okay, I wont remember" Annie repeated "how are you planing to get me out?"

"there is no plan actually" laughed mrs left for the first time "but I'll take care of that, all you need to know, is how to follow my orders okay"

"okay"

"once your cell door is open, because that's the first part of the plan, you will need to run, because the nurses probably will alert the hypodermic ward and security, don't run to the elevator, go down the stairs, just not ALL the stairs, in the second flight of stairs you will see the outline of a door, it's white you barely see it, open it and hide behind it for a while make sure nobody is really following you, the door probably is one, a emergency exit, or two a one way ticket to the boiler room" Mrs left was rushing everything, probably conscious of the time "if it's a emergency exit then you have to run faster okay, run to the road and well, hide, I don't know, just don't let the hypodermic squad catch you, after that, you're on your own, if it's not you have to be very sneaky, to find another exit, try stealing some nurse uniform, there might be some there, and pass yourself as one of them okay"

"yes okay, i'll do it" Annie answers, half because she thinks the possibility of escape is as farfetched as the sky, and half because at least, Mrs Left has some sort of hope for her too

"you need to be very brave for this Belle, very strong too"

"i find that when one does the brave thing, bravery usually follows"

"very well then, go back to sleep, and don't eat anything today, I don't want hallucinating drugs in your system when the time comes"

"dont worry Mrs Left" Annie assures her and goes back to her tiny white cot to sleep the giddiness off.

When she hears a sound, the nurse is knocking her door with her food and medicine tray, she pretends to take the medicine and takes the food, dumping it in the toilet that's in the corner of her white padded cell, she spits the pills too when the nurse inst looking.

Annie doesn't actually believe Mrs left or Mr right can get her out, but what's one day in her imprisonment?, what's one day humoring the people she thinks of as friends. Annie settles herself back to sleep.

The next time she awakes her cell door is open and there's a strange looking woman standing there with a pile of clothing in her arms "quick Belle put this on" she gestures to the clothes, a oversized pair of jeans and a dark coat "i got lucky with your file, come on we don't have much time" she says shaking Annie

"mrs Left?" Annie has to ask, because the exterior looks nothing like the voice, the woman is dressed in her same hospital robe, but her hair and eyes are so messy one would really think she's crazy, not like the person Anne imagined would own Mrs left's voice.

"i suppose it's useless not to tell you my name, we've been friends for twenty eight years, come on get dressed, I'll brief you on the scape plans"

"so what is your name?" Annie asks as she puts on the jeans and the oversized coat as fast as possible.

"to the world out there, my name is Alyssa something Peace, but just for you, i'll tell you my real name after we run,"she then takes Annie's hand and starts running towards the stairs, Annie's so confused, so many thing are happening, she just focuses on her bare feet, ad Alyssa's voice that talks entirely too fast "when you are found in the outside world, say you remember nothing, not your past not your present, your lack of knowledge will keep you safe okay sweetie?"

Annie nods feeling numb "will the dark lady find me? What do I do when i'm out there? Who do I trust?"

"trust nobody except you, in storybrooke, there are nice people, but nobody can know the truth, you might think you are trusting the right people, but they in turn can trust the WRONG people, so it gets you in danger anyway"

"and the dark lady?"

"pretend you don't know Regina, you've never seen her in your life, in fact you've never seen anyone in your life, not from in or outside storybrooke, you don't remember, you just don't"

Annie bobbed her head again "do you know someone who will be kind to me? At least?"

"there's a woman, snow white, I mean Mary Margaret, yes Mary Margaret will be nice to you, just be nice to her in return, everyone you see that puts their trusts in Mary Margaret, those people are the ones that wont harm you"

they where being chased by the nurse and their needles Annie was scared, but Alyssa made her run faster "what can I do for you in return Alyssa? I'll come back, but is there something else you need from outside? Anything?"

"apart from freedom, no, but I am helping you for selfish reasons already, just don't get killed Belle, it's all I ask, and if you ever can, come back with help"

they reached the white door and Annie was pushed into the tunnel behind it "you never did tell m what your real name was"

"Alice, my real name was Alice, now go, and good luck Belle" then the door was pushed heavily back into place. And Belle heard Alice scream big words to the people who where chasing them before the sounds of running footsteps followed her.

Alice, like Alice in wonderland, well, if Alice had grown up to be a woman, she might have looked like Alyssa, Anne reasoned.

She runs

she runs away from the hospital and hides, and runs some more, straight into the woods.

Once she thinks she's far enough she stops running, and freezes in place, what will she do now?.. lucky the choice is taken away from her hands when five minutes later Henry Mills crashes into her with his bicycle, he was looking for David, of course, he didn't think he would find that strange looking girl shivering inside that odd looking coat, much less run her over with his bike. Annie was too weak from so much running, and hadn't eaten anything in the whole day, so when the little boy ran her over with his bicycle, it had the same effect of a car accident, more or less.

The girl Henry ran over with his bike wakes up after a while, "it's okay I wont hurt you" Henry assures her, and then he starts talking to her, Henry finds out she ran away from the hospital, that her name is Annabelle and that she's very scared of having to go back. He sits next to her and pats her back while she cries.

"i know somebody who can help, come on" Henry extends his hand to he but Annie is wary

"how do I know they are not going to make me go back?"

"because I wont let them, we can talk to Emma, she's my mom, and a sheriff, she'll help I know she will"

eventually they get to the police station, Henry still holding her hand and leading her slowly to the bench on the station.

"so do you have a name?" Emma asks once Henry tells her how he found Anne, Anne looks at Henry for approval, she wont trust these people, but if Henry thinks its okay to talk to Emma, she'll make the effort.

"My name is, Annie, Annabelle I think, Annabelle French" she draws her name unsure, as if she's not certain it's her name, Emma just shakes her head, leave it to Henry to find the one messed up woman in the woods that has trouble with her own name.

"Henry" Anne whispers when Emma's back is turned, she knows Henry will help her, he promised he wouldn't let anybody take her back, so she will trust the little boy, because she has a gut feeling, he is the one person Annabelle will trust in this town, else she'll trust nobody. "do you know a woman named Mary Margaret?"

"yes she's my teacher, why?" Henry's curious gaze sweeps over her once more but before she thinks it too much she hands Henry the folder mrs left stole for her, no not mrs left, Alyssa, Alice, Anabelle will call her Alice in her head, it will be a small kindness or the woman who helped her escape the padded cell, until she can find another way to repay her.

"i was told she would be kind to me" was all Annabelle answers "give her that, I... I think it has proof I'm not crazy, but you cant let anybody else see it" and by that she means the dark lady.

Of course once Henry calls Mary Margaret and after Emma explains the situation there's no way Mary doesn't hand over the stolen file to the sheriff, after all she might be too kind to let Anabelle sleep in the police station but she doesn't know a thing about harboring hospital fugitives.

Yet Annabelle isn't a fugitive, neither she is or was, ever insane according to Annie's file, she was just listed under the "misdiagnosed" category, and Henry and Emma are trying to do all they can for this tiny news not to reach the mayor's ears, Annabelle just wants to disappear now that she's free, but she cant do that, not when Emma insist on investigating her, not when she got dr Hopper to come and ask her questions to determine if Annabelle IS actually sane..or when Mary Margaret keeps acting like a mother hen towards her, she owes these people too much, she's still afraid..

a week later Regina Mills finds out about Belle's escape, and there would be a hell to pay, so the mayor storms right into the sheriff office and demands to have a search party sent out for the madwoman that escaped the hospital, coincidentally a week before, that, is the first time Annabelle actually speaks, to the infamous evil queen.

"so where do you have her, if you are so convinced she's sane" Regina snarls, this wasn't good for her plans, she curses Alice and her idiotic schemes for this one, Belle was one of her aces under the sleeve, the card to play if all else failed, now, she had twenty four hours by less before that bastard of Gold found out about the little fugitive.

"she is staying at Mary Margret's, poor girl, looks so scared, and even when her daily sessions with doctor Hopper, she still cant remember a thing from before her stay at the asylum" Emma watches the satisfaction display itself in Regina's face, just like she thought..the Mayor had her hand also in whatever happened to Annabelle.

"but she escaped from a hospital, I don't think they had her there for nothing" Regina plays the concerned Mayor face, as if Emma had not seen that face more than often "she could be a risk for the town if let loose"

"i don't think she's dangerous, Amnesic, sure, but when was a amnesic ever a security risk?"

"if you don't mind Miss Swan i'll be the judge of who is and isn't a risk for the community" Regina says glaring at Emma "i want to see her"

Emma reluctantly leads Regina to Mary Margret's home, of course she kept her timing good, making sure Regina could overhear doctor Hopper in his session with Anabelle, the mayor's reactions to storybrooke's newest addition had given her little investigation a surprising turn.

"let's try this again Miss French, do you remember anything about yourself? Your family? Your hobbies?, likes dislikes?" doctor Hopper asks, again for the hundredth time in the week.

"i think so, but only snippets" comes a very soft voice from the living room, "i remember, yeah, I like the color blue, it's my favorite"

"why do you like it?"

"because the sky is blue, and blue makes me happy" comes the reply

"what else do you remember?"

"i like to read, that makes me happy too"

"what books"

"umm ahh Austen, I like Austen novels" the voice of Annabelle French is quiet, meek and mousy to Regina, it sounds pitiful, her inner monster is happy, strong brave Belle, reduced to a mouse, she should congratulate herself.

"anything else"

"i like music too I suppose, I don't remember ever hearing it" she pauses "but I think I like it"

doctor hopper is going to continue but Regina walks in, regal, like a peacock Annabelle muses in her insides, she looks up, and beholds the dark lady in her whole splendor, but she doesn't let any part of her face show recognition, instead she cocks her head to the side and pretends to be confused.

Doctor hopper looks up and turns red, embarrassment probably "madame Mayor, good evening, I was just having a" he stutters his answer but Regina stops him

"i know exactly what you where doing, now, i'd like to talk to Miss French and see if she can, in fact speak" she meant to be cutting with her words, but Annabelle wont bite the hook, she wont answer back or scream at her, like she would have done in the asylum, instead she keeps the confused expression fixed, she cannot pretend she doesn't know Regina, but perhaps she can bluff her way into safety.

"i..i can.. I can..speak madame Mayor" Annabelle stutters in fear, the dark lady liked to be feared she reminded herself, just give the lady reason enough to think of her as a non threatening girl.

"i see, and I suppose like sheriff informed me, you cannot remember anything am I right?" Regina's word are firm, and they cut, like always, but Annabelle is used to the sound, she's replayed it in her boring days just to try and emulate it, she never could, but she got used to the sound.

"i remember someone giving me clothing, and opening the door to my cell, telling me to run" Annabelle gave up with the most mousy voice she could, stuttering a time or two "before that, I just remember white walls, everything is just, white, no voices, no sounds"

"do you remember people?" asked the evil queen, but to her eyes, Belle clearly did not, maybe all the anti psychotics had successfully wiped out her memory better than any lobotomy.

"no, I suppose there must have been people, nurses to take my meals and give me those horrible medicines...but I don't remember if there was anybody apart from me in all the white"

Annie keeps her head down, cowering into her seat, the lady, Regina, scares her, but she wont whimper, she doesn't want to let Regina know how much far her fear is reaching, fortunately Emma rescues her "now as you can see, miss French here is NOT a threat to the community madame Mayor"

Regina gives a petulant sniff and removes her stare from Annie " I suppose you are right, but Sheriff I would be very happy if miss French isn't allowed to go in town" the petulant face is slowly turning into a smirk "not for as long as she is not declared formally sane by a competent doctor"

Annie wants to scream no, she wants freedom, not a trade of prisons, but the Sheriff agrees with Regina, for whatever reason she doesn't understand, Emma agrees to keep Annie out of town, just for a while, until doctor Hopper, and maybe Doctor Whale, declare her legally okay, at least that's the explanation she gives Annie.

**Part III: time lapse**

the first week Annie was coped up in Mary Margret's house she didn't do much, ate, slept (Mary had been too kind and offered her a air mattress), talked to doctor hopper, and tried to help Mary in household chores, by the second week she knew everyone's routines by heart, Mary and Emma woke up at dawn, one prepared for her class the other left for the station. Rubi, a girl that was also living with them, (taking the couch of course) woke up at noon and left too in a hurry most of the times, Annie spent most of her time in Mary Margaret's room, reading her collection of books, so they hardly ever noticed her unless Doctor Hopper was there and Annie was forced out of hiding, Annie had the house to herself, she felt the familiarity of being alone, but by the end of the week the walls of the house where beginning to close around her, so she took up housekeeping one morning...

but it wasn't enough, When all the house was clean and she still felt she had time on her before the others came, she tried her hand at the oven, reading up one of those old and dusty cookbooks Mary M kept in the back of the pantry, it was hard at first, considering she never cooked before, but the book had instructions, and Annie was good at following them...

so that Monday was the first time Emma Mary and Rubi came home to find Annie covered in flour, made a mess over ingredients and egg cartons,yet Mary Margaret couldn't find it in her to scold their little roommate when she saw the dining table.

"i thought I would make something from the book" Annie offered shy " I tried to make apple pie, but then I thought, Mary hates apples" she continued "so I changed it to apricot pie, ohh and I made blueberry pie too, and pie of the other fruit you had in the fridge, strawberries, yep, I made strawberry pie"

"what brought this on Annie? I thought, you where cra-" but Emma didn't let Rubi and her mouth finish the phrase instead she complimented Annie on her cooking.

"this is great, good for you, finding something to do" besides housekeeping thought Emma, she was getting tired of Annabelle's clean to the fault attitude, everything was always so pristine when she came from the station each day, that it was almost creepy, the way Annie obsessed over specks of dust.

"i thought we could give one to the doctor, since he always gets so frustrated with me, and then, this one is for Henry" Annie smiled holding up a fourth pie, at the mention of Henry both Mary and Emma narrowed their eyes, but Annie didn't look up from the pie so she didn't see the looks "it's a triple treat, one third blueberry, one third strawberry and one third apricot" she didn't hear the sighs of relief either

as the days progressed and Annie began taking up more little pastimes to keep herself busy apart from cooking, her roommates couldn't be more surprised, Doctor Hopper had advised them to let her be, since it was very common for Amnesia victims to have post-traumatic OCD.

She was usually very quiet, normally busy reading, or in the kitchen, only when Henry paid her visits the real Annabelle came trough, sadly nobody could figure out why Annie was open and lively with the ten year old and with the rest of people, she was as shy as a mouse. When asked, Annie would simply shrug and say she owed Henry her life.

Eventually Doctor Hopper gave up, he couldn't get Annie to remember anything from before, yet he didn't consider her particularly dangerous or unstable, and he sensed she needed to see more of the world than Mary Margret's house, one could see the psychological pattern, cooking cleaning, sewing, watching Tv, the girl was holding on to strings to keep her busy, she needed to be in contact with more people, or she would develop serious OCD...

this was relayed to the sheriff along with the paperwork that declared Annie officially good enough for exposure to society.

On the other hand Regina had done all the string pulling she could (even threatening sheriff swan) to make this tiny tidbit of information stay under the radar, Henry wondered why his mom was so strong on that point, he liked Annie, Annie liked to read books and she understood things nobody else would, why would the evil queen want to keep her hidden? And from whom?..

Henry kept thinking about that during his recess, and taking advantage of nobody looking, decided to visit Annie for the ten minutes he had to sneak out..

"ohh Henry, naughty little boy, aren't you supposed to be in school?" Annabelle laughed opening the door for him to come in

"i'm on recess"

"then we better keep your teacher out of this huh?" Annie smiled "come on in i'm making chocolate mousse and cherry jello"

"cool, i'll have two"

"one for you and one for Mary M?"

"yep"

"you are very predictable" Annabelle got out a Tupperware and set a big batch of Jello and mousee for him to take back to school "make sure to give the container to her k?"

"i know" he was squinting at her again cocking his head to the side, Annie made a funny face.

"what?"

"i'm trying to figure out who you are" he told her holding up his book "what fairytale you come from, but it's very hard, because your hair isn't long"

"you think i'm Rapunzel?" Annie laughed "no wonder your mother thinks you are crazy, i'm not Rapunzel, I bet I'm just some peasant, a girl that got stuck in the wrong place at the wrong time"

Annie had an open mind, after reading so much books, and plus the ones Mary and Rubi got for her every week, so she never had trouble understanding Henry's theories, or his "operation cobra", for some reason, talking about curses and evil queens didn't seem so farfetched when she humored Henry...after all wasn't she the girl who traded stories with other patients back in the asylum just to keep herself sane?.

"you cant be a peasant girl, the evil queen wouldn't be so interested in what yo do when she interogates me if you where..Maybe you're Wendy"

"peter pan? Really" Annie raised an eyebrow "according to..let me think...YOU...it doesn't work like that, didn't you say Hansel and Gretel where children in this place? Wouldn't it be the same with peter pan?"

"i don't know, but I'll find out Annie" then Henry looked at the clock "ohh gotta go, thanks for this" he said holding up the container "it gets late" and he ran out

"bye Henry" called out Annie from the door "see you soon" and she would see him, if Henry's sweet tooth was anything to go by, he would be back in Mary Margret's kitchen by tea time.

It was almost time for lunch, and that morning Rubi wasn't home so Annie set herself up to clean the kitchen, no use in making lunch she wouldn't eat anyway, too much pastries waited for the oven and lunch would be so unnecessary when one was baking homemade cinnamon bread. She readied herself to tidy up the kitchen, taking the blue apron Rubi's granny sent her a few days before cracking Mary M's small radio she started to clean the flour of the kitchen walls.

after the kitchen was done Annie moved up to the living room and began dusting the carpets, dust was flying everywhere, and not for the first time she wondered if it wouldn't have been better to dust them outside..nevertheless she'd already started the task, even when dirt was now making a new outfit for her, this was, at least a good distraction, she wasn't forbidden to go outside, but Emma, Mary Margaret and Rubi had made clear they would get in trouble if she did, Annabelle didn't want them in trouble, so she stayed inside just like they told her.

She was halfway done when someone knocked the door, "huh? That's strange, I wonder if it's Henry, I didn't hear anybody up the road" Annabelle told herself, maybe she misheard, the music in the radio blared happily, a song called Disaster by a girl with a nice sounding voice. Then the knock came again, "coming!" she called out and let go of the dusting pallet she had in hand for the carpets.

"who's there?" she asked looking out the window, it wasn't Henry, he always left his bicycle near the window, what if it was Regina? And she was stuck alone in the house, what if Regina came with a hypodermic?, could it happen?, better safe than sorry, "who's there?" she called again but from the kitchen window she couldn't see the door, darn.

Again the knock came, this time a lot less urgent, "i came to collect the rent from miss Blanchard" was the perfectly polite response, Annie couldn't help but think she knew that vice, she'd heard it before, she just knew it, slowly she crept up to the door.

"Mary Margaret isn't home right now, she's at school"

"if you opened the door miss i'm sure we could speak just as well, i'm not fond of talking to doors"

"i cant, Emma told me I shouldn't open the door to strangers" replied Annie "but i'm sure I could...ohh shirt the cinnamon bread" the smell of almost burnt bread drifted towards her nose, she dashed towards the kitchen and made a quick saving of the bread "darn there goes my lunch, nevermind i'll put the second tray in..." she grumbled to herself, then remembered the door and ran back, "sir, are you still there, i'm sorry I was..well...i had a kitchen emergency"

"of course, I can smell the burnt cinnamon from here" then the man stopped himself and chucled "perhaps you could tell me if Miss Blanchard has the money for the rent, should I need to go to her place of work" he sighed " I remind you it's very difficult to talk to a door"

"i don't know, Mary and Emma, and Rubi, don't tell me much about finances and I cant open the door, what if you're some bulgar?"

"i am not a bulgar" seeing he probably wasn't going to get her to open the door he gave up " look out the window then, you where not forbidden to open it"

Annie felt the resemblance to Disney snow white already creeping on her, but she still went to the kitchen window and opened the panes, surely telling this man to go away was worth at least saying it to his face.

She stuck her head out of the window "hello? Sir?" she called out and then she saw the man, he had a cane, and was dressed impeccably, with a suit and looking very confident, but once he saw her, his face twisted into a very sad expression, she felt as if she'd been hit by something very hard, she knew this person, she was positive she knew him, would recognize that face anywhere, the thing was, she didnt remember from were, from when, but she knew the face, it was very important, she had to know him, his name, his name was important...ughh it was so confusing

"Belle?" this time, it sounded right, not like when Alice and Mr Happy called her Belle, those times it made her feel sad, but that day, she heard her name, and it sounded nice, for the first time, it didn't hurt.. his eyebrows where scrunched up and he was turning white, as if he'd seen a ghost.

"Annabelle" Annie corrected before she lost her train of thought again, "my name is Annabelle, how did you know?" she wondered.

"i know everyone in this town Belle" the man replied, keeping his expression neutral, but she saw him underneath that..she saw he was just as painfully confused as her.

"well I you did you would know people call me Annie, not Belle" she pointed out then before she blurted out anything else she told him what he'd asked in the first place "Mary Margaret will be home this evening you might want to see her then"

"I'm sure it could be arranged"

"very well, I gotta get back to cleaning mr rent collector" said Annie waving her dirty cleaning rag out of the window and dusting it, "Emma said not to talk to strangers you know, I suppose she might be angry now that I talked to you"

"if the sheriff told you not to talk to strangers then why are you disobeying?"

"that's a very good question" Annie replied with a smile, "a good question I don't plan to answer anytime soon, Mr rent-collector" she shrugged her shoulders

he looked at her with that painful look, as if he couldn't stand to be in her presence any longer, "well then, I'll be on my way, dearie, please tell your Mary Margaret of my visit"

"i will, by the way, what is your name?"

he wants to answer her in various ways, but settles for a curt "Mr Gold" even when she knows it doesn't ring any bells in her head, _that's stupid, very stupid _she wants to say_, I know that's not your name _but she didn't bluff her way under Regina's nose and doctor Hopper's by being blatantly honest, she doesn't want this man to think she's really mad, even when she's definitely certain..that's not his real name.

"well I'll tell Mary you came by" then she pauses "by the way, don't call me dearie"

he turns to look at her, the same frown, the same stubborn set of chin, and he want to turn away, but he has to ask "pray tell, why?"

"that's how you call the people you're planing to outsmart" comes the reply. She doesn't see his face, she's too busy feeling the blood rush to her face making it a deep red.

"how do you know?"

"i just do" and with that Annabelle turned away from the window, very scared of blurting out something more crazy. She is not crazy, she wont let those people think that, Alice tried to give her a chance at freedom, she's going to make sure it doesn't go to waste...but telling people things like that, will surely put her back in the asylum, and she likes it where she is, at Mary Margret's home, where she can clean and cook and read, even if she doesn't get to go outside, she gets to feel the sun on her face, gets a proper clock, now she knows when days pass, so she wont give this up, she wont give the evil queen reasons to get her back in the tower.

Preview of next chapter:

…_. but well a girl's gotta do what a girl had to do, so taking Henry's hand Annie quick shoved her knee directly in Gabriel's most sensitive parts and screamed "RUN" _

_the smart little boy didn't have to be told twice, taking off in a fast sprint Annabelle and Henry ran, of course Gabriel would be chasing them, limping, and holding his sensitive areas, but chasing them, "where do we hide?" Annie asked her companion in crime then Henry pointed to the pawn shop._

"_there, he wont look for us in there"_

"_lets go, I don't want to think this too much" and Henry made a dive for the door of Mr Gold's store, followed by Annabelle._

_The owner of the store was nowhere to be seen, but that didn't mean he wasn't in hearing distance when Annabelle collapsed into fits of giggles "do you see him Henry?" _

"_i see him, he went into Granny's"_

"_phew, I cant believe the guy doesn't take the hint" giggled Annie like a little girl "when a girl returns your flowers, doesn't even spare you a glance and keeps shooing you away when you pop up in her workplace, that usually means i'm not interested"_

"_but what if he's meant to be your true love, what if you and him are meant to be together?" wondered Henry, she really didn't know whether to laugh or cry at his little theory, she really wanted to cry, so likewise she laughed._

"_trust me, Gabriel doesn't want true love, he wants a wife, and I happen to be the only girl in this town who has all his requirements" _

"_requirements?" Henry coked his head to the side_

"_yeahh, I'm quiet like a mouse, I can housekeep better than granny and know how to cook and clean, Gabe wants a wife that can double as a slave worker, as if I haven't noticed that"_

"_so you don't think he's your true love" _

"_no" Annabelle shook her head "hey he's coming out of granny's, duck your head" _

"_this would be so much easier if I knew who you are in my book, but I keep getting it wrong" Henry pouted "how can I help you with your happy ending if I don't know what tale you belong to, then you could find true love and be happy, like Ashley and Sean"_

"_aww you know I'm a hopeless romantic" grinned his friend "and I believe in happy endings with all my heart sweetie, I just don't think I'll be getting one soon"_

"_why? Everybody deserves a happy ending" grumbled Henry getting up from where they both where crouched by the window "and you said it yourself Annie, true love can break any curse"_

"_it can, and so can magic, if people around here believed in it, but look at Mary and David, I've seen them kiss, and don't lie and tell me you haven't seen them kiss too, you want to know why it didn't break the curse? because true love is one hell of a complicated mess" then she paused getting up to follow Henry around the shop "by the way if you tell either of your mothers I say those words in your presence, Emma will kill me and get the Mayor to dance around my grave"_

"_its okay, I used to hear what the evil queen did with sheriff Graham on her council meetings" Henry shrugged his shoulders "and I wont tell, I promise" _

"_you need to grow up at a slower rate, seriously" Annabelle rolled her eyes, great, her best friend was a ten yearold boy whose grandmother, or supposed grandmother, was Annie's age, could she be more strange?_

"_so you think that's why true love kiss didn't work, because true love is complicated"  
_

"_yep, its always complicated, With a few exeptions like sleeping beauty and snow white, true love kiss always makes things worse"Annabelle sighed too bad she had been too focused in her talk/escapade with Henry to notice the owner of that particular store was now sitting behind his desk listening to their conversation. Very interested in it._

"_how do you know if you don't remember?" _

"_i just do" she smirked "have you ever kissed a girl?"_

"_eww no"_

"_exactly, you think a ten year-old can have trouble with kissing? Try a grown up" she then lookd at Henry with a controlled stare "does your mother know the sweetheart eyes you make when you see Gretel?"_

"_ANABELLE" Henry groaned " I don't make sweetheart eyes to anybody" _

"_sure, because if evil queen found out she'd send poor Ava to the confines of the world just to spite you"_

"_you're changing the subject" pointed out the little boy "how do you know, I mean, when it's true love? How do you know Mr Jones doesn't love you?"_

"_that's easy, I dont feel in love when i'm with Gabriel, quite the opposite, he makes me want to shoot him"_

"_but how do you know? Really?, how does it feel"_

"_honestly? true love feels different, it feels warm and fuzzy and positively crazy" she struggled not to sound to corny with him Henry, hopeless romantic or not, she was always honest with the boy "like a pot of honey and firecrackers, and then that person, has to love you back, you want him..or her. To love you back, or else you'll die, of course a metaphorical death, but you get my meaning, and the best part of true love, is that you want him..or her, to be happy, to have happy endings and all the stuff fairytales are made of, but selfishly you want that happy ending part to include you"_

_Henry looked at her, I mean really looked at her, again with the funny face "what?" _

"_nevermind" he said shaking his head "you know you could be a princess"_

"_which one?, I'm not partial to being Jasmine just so you know" but before henry could offer the next choice Annie held up her finger "or Aurora"_

"_obviously, you're not asleep"_

"_and I don't need a kiss" one lie in too many, they'd been talking without much volume but for the first time, Mr Gold dared to clear his throat, Annabelle froze, this was so embarrassing, she looked at Henry, who was looking at her too, then she squeezed his hand, conveying her message with her red face._

"_what a interesting conversation you two where having" Mr gold smiled, a devious smile Annie narrowed her eyes despite her embarrassment_

**and that's all I have of the preview, of next chapter...i had fun writing this.. I hope I get comments or I might get discouraged...OUAT just started airing on my country and I got hooked, tell me what you thought about how I made Belle.. I wanted to make it a "light" kind of reading so that's why I tried to keep the darkest themes to the lowest level, at least for the first chap.. this chapter by far has been all in Belle's perspective, what is happening to her, I might need someone else to help me with Gold's side because I suck with male characters, but there will be chapter all at his side of storybrooke...by the way, why is Alice trapped in the asylum? And Happy? Who are the others there too?..that I might answer in later chapters...**


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